The Luxus Disaster
by Jcamts
Summary: It's Grandma's birthday, and Jeff has reluctantly gone out of his way to celebrate it, by taking her, along with Scott and Gordon, on a five star cruise for a week. However, the holiday turns into a nightmare rescue for International Rescue.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Notes**: _This story was written for the 2011 Tracy Island Writers Forum's Fic Swap Challenge. My request was '_A luxury cruise turns out to be the boat ride from hell.'

This story has been set in the **Thunderbirds Continuous Timeline**. In between the stories **Operation Earthquake** and **Allis Mr. Hackenbacker**

1 'Birthday Honours' – Thunderbirds Redan Magazine #8

2 'Atlantic Inferno' – Thunderbirds episode 27

3 'Pleasure Cruise' – Thunderbirds Redan Magazine #38

4 'Terror Of New York City' – Thunderbirds episode #13

5 'Cry Wolf' – Thunderbirds episode 21

6 'Operation Earthquake' – TVC21 118-124

7 'Strip One' – TVC21A 1966

8 'The Trapped Spy' – TVC21 110-117

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* * *

><p>The Luxus Disaster<p>

Chapter 1

The sun gazed down heavily on the island of Cyprus, beaming its intensity of heat across the land. It's heat wave, constant in these parts of the Nicosia District, where you had to be used to the heat if you were to stay here. Thanks to the Tracy family living on a glamorous island in the Pacific Ocean, they were able to cope with the thirty degrees heat that the village of Pachyammos was facing.

They were dinning at a small restaurant called Μπλε Vinni (Blue Vinni) outside in the sun, but shaded by the canopy above them. Around the table, Jeff, Scott and Gordon were celebrating with Grandma, their glasses raised high in the air. Grandma had a small glass of sherry, Scott and Jeff had a pint of beer each and Gordon had a white wine.

"To Grandma," spouted Jeff, "and a very happy birthday." They all clinked glasses before taking a sip.

"This is just lovely." Grandma was pleased with how the day had gone. "It's so nice that you did all this for my birthday. I just wished the others were here to experience it!"

"Well some one has to stay home to be in charge of the rescue mission, if a call comes in whilst were away." Jeff had begun tucking into his medium rare steak. The temperature might have been boiling out side, but he still felt like a hot meal.

His sons on the other hand, had decided to go for a salad. Gordon poured a dressing onto his. Gordon wasn't keen on salads; normally at home if he wanted a hot meal he would go inside where it was cool. However the inside of the restaurant, was worse than sitting outside in the sun.

Scott on the other hand was happy with his, and wasn't as fussy as Gordon, but had the same opinion that it was far too hot to have anything cooked, and asked for the dressing after Gordon was done with it. Surprisingly, Grandma as well had chosen salad, but hadn't wanted dressing to go with it.

The day went on, and soon the sun had moved slightly, putting Grandma in the sunlight, with the rest of the boys still in the shade.

"Grandma, do you want to change places? You look uncomfortable in the sun" Scott had noticed this for a while and felt compelled to make sure that she felt happy on her birthday.

"Yes please Scott." She stood up and began moving to Scott's seat.

"Father, Grandma," started Gordon, "do you mind if I go for a quick walk? Soon after finishing his meal.

"Of course Gordon."

Scott liked the idea of going for a quick stroll around the village, getting some fresh air. "If you don't mind Gordon, I think I'll join you."

"Sure Scott, the more the merrier." Gordon rose from his seat, whilst Scott waited. Once Gordon was standing the two brothers set off down the street where its miss-mashed stone street felt uneasy on the brother's sandals. Both had put their sunglasses back on and finally Gordon broke the silence, "It was a swell idea of dad, taking Grandma on this one week cruise for her birthday."

"Yeah. It sure makes a change from her last birthday!" Scott recollected on those last words, as he remembered quite memorably what happened on her birthday of 2066. They hadn't planned anything big for her, but had organised a surprise party on the day. Unfortunately, they received a distress call from New York and had to save several trapped people at the top of the Bank of America Office Tower whilst it was on fire. Everyone was saved, but they had missed Grandma's birthday, something that Jeff felt terrible about. It reminded him, how much International Rescue had taken over their lives since they started.1

"It seems funny, dad is here to celebrate Grandma's birthday!" Gordon said, reminding Scott of the previous time his father tried to take a vacation, which was at the start of this year. Staying a Lady Penelope's lodge in Australia, had been the thing Jeff needed, if he hadn't of worried so much. Scott distinctively remembered the rollicking Jeff had given him after they'd put those fires out at the oilrig.2 Then of course the time before that, when he stayed aboard Lady Penelope's FAB 2 last year, but was attacked by the Hood.3 Jeff's time off over the past few years hadn't really worked, and he had certainly come to the conclusion that taking a vacation was a bad idea. "I guess the only thing really keeping dad here, is his guilt about how bad Grandma's previous birthday."

"I guess so." They continued walking together in silence knowing what each other was thinking. Finally Scott broke the silence. "Gordon," he said nervously.

"Yeah."

"Do you feel sick?"

"Yep!" The reason they had been walking was because they both felt slightly bloated, probably because of how fast they had eaten their food. Now they both felt ill, and you could see it in there facial expressions. Their stomachs began to rumble hard, which was accompanied by sharp pains. Their stomachs felt almost ready to throw up the previous food, and the heat did not help. "Maybe we should go back to the ship."

"I'll text dad telling him that." They started walking as fast as they could but couldn't move that fast. Scott slipped his mobile out of his pocket and started sluggishly pressing the buttons.

Jeff's mobile dinged, he reached down and pulled it out of his pocket, before opening the message. DON'T FEEL WELL, HEADING BACK TO THE SHIP WITH GORDON.

"What is it Jeff?" Grandma was curious to know what he was reading.

"I don't know why, but apparently Scott and Gordon don't feel well. They're heading back to the ship."

"Oh dear. I told them you have to be careful what you eat in foreign countries when on holiday." "Looks like it'll be just us two for the rest of day." Jeff had finished his steak and was moving onto the last few side portions of chips that came with it. It was only two o'clock, and they had to be back on the cruise liner by four. Never the less, despite all the fantastic places they had been to, Jeff's mind still wondered off, worrying about International Rescue. He was amazed he had even stayed this long, without heading back. This was a one-week cruise, or as Jeff preferred to think about it, a seven-day cruise. Seven days seemed shorter than a week.

"Oh Jeff stop thinking about International Rescue!" Grandma interrupted his training of thought.

He chuckled to himself briefly, "you can read me like a book, can't you mother?"

"Well I have to," she started, "can't really claim to be your mother without being able to guess what's going on inside your head. Besides, Alan and Virgil are back at the base, not to mention Tin-Tin and Brains who have been out on their fair share of rescues themselves. Not to mention Kyrano, if they all need to leave the base, he can always stay behind. What about the time we left him in charge when we all went to see the Ned Cook Show."4

Jeff knew she was right, at the end of the day they could handle any disaster that occurred. It had almost been six months since they had seen the Hood5, and their last call out was to Moscow about a week ago.6 All he had to do was to relax and enjoy the cruise; after all he was going to be dining with the Captain tonight.

* * *

><p>The cruise liner Luxus, the ship they were travelling on, was docked at the Cyprus Pachyammos Port, with passengers boarding and going as they pleased. At the end of the liner, big crates were being shipped onto the hold by forklift trucks, one by one. Captain Bradley Gerard, a tall man in his early fifties with grey hair and beard, along with his first mate Commander Richard Peters, a youngish man in his early thirties with blond hair and roughly the same height as the Captain, watched as the next shipment of food was taken into the hold.<p>

"How many more crates, Peters?" asked Bradley

Richard looked down at his clipboard that he was using to tick off the other supplies that had arrived. "About four more items sir. Then the only thing left is the chef's spice that he specially ordered himself."

"Trust him to order something out of the blue. What's it called?"

"Err…" Peters skimmed the bottom of the page to read the scribbling of the chef's handwriting. Squinting his eyes he struggled to pronounce the word. "Cal…Calamar…Calamarna, Calamarna."

"Cala what?" Bradley took the board off his Commanders and looked at it. "Calamarna! Never heard of it," he handed the board back to Richard, "as long as he's paying for it."

"Will you be dining tonight sir, with the passengers again?"

"Yes. It's normal to do it at least twice on a voyage."

"Who will be dinning with you?"

"A couple called the Delmonts. A family of three, called the Pinters and another family of four called the Tracys."

"A nice bunch of people?"

"They're generally all good. They're multimillionaires or something. One of the Tracy's was married to Lucile Tracy."

"Not the famous painter?"

"Oh yes."

The last of the forklift trucks reversed out of the cargo bay, Richards looked down at his list. "That's all of them sir."

"Good I'm going to my cabin to get some rest before dining tonight. I'm sure you'll be ok in command tonight, won't you?"

"Absolutely sir."

"And obviously get an early meal in before we leave port."

"Very good sir."

* * *

><p>The day went by, Grandma and Jeff continued their day sightseeing the landscape of the village of Pachyammos. They visited many Greek ruins that still had the unique features that the original workers carved into them years ago. Forests that provided wonderful tall trees that shielded them from the sun. Jeff was so surprised at how little he had thought of International Rescue, and how little he had called home to see how everything was going. By now the time was reaching four, and the ship would be setting fail at five. So they started back to the harbour, and it was only then Jeff remembered Scott and Gordon. His mind wandered to whether they were ok or not.<p>

It was now seven, Grandma was dressed up for supper and waiting outside Scott and Gordon's room whilst Jeff was checking on them. Finally he remerged from the suite into the tiny corridor.

"How are they?" enquired Grandma as they started walking.

"Well they're definitely sick. But they'll be ok," replied Jeff.

"What do you think caused it?"

"They think it was the dressing they poured on the salad at the restaurant."

"I had the same salad but not the dressing. So they could be right."

"At least we're on a five star cruise boat. The food should be better here." They finally reached a section left of the corridor, leading to the stairs and elevators. They entered the lift, Jeff pressed the gold coloured circle button for the fifth floor and it began to descend. After a smooth humming, the doors glided open and they stepped out onto the dining area. There were over fifty tables jotted in the massive room, on the lower floor and on the higher levels as well. Passengers were already seated and different waiters easily navigated their way to the kitchen going to fetch the meals that had been ordered.

In the centre of the room, was the largest table, where along with two other families and the Captain Jeff and Grandma would be dining. The Pinters were already there, whom they had met the night before. Once they reached the table, two waiters where already in position to pull the seats back allowing the Tracys to sit down.

"Evening," Jeff said before sitting down. The two Pinters replied back, as Jeff and Grandma were handed the menu for the evening.

"Have you had a nice day?" Ms Pinter questioned.

"Fine thanks." Jeff briefly looking up from the menu to reply.

"Where are your two sons?" Mr Pinter curious their absence.

"Oh, they unfortunately got food poisoning from something they've eaten this afternoon. I doubt they'll be joining us for the rest of the evening."

Soon the Delmonts arrived and the six talked amongst themselves, and drank glasses of wine, before the Captain finally made his appearance. Once their meals arrived, they dined on some of the luxuries that the chef offered them. Oysters, salads, steaks, dishes marinated in white wine. Jeff knew it rivalled the marvellous cooking of Kyrano, but his friend would always be the better cook.

"Captain Gerard," began Mrs Delmont, "what course will we be taking over the next few days?"

"Well," Bradley put his knife and fork down, "we're going to be sailing close to the African coast, near places like Egypt and Libya, as apposed to sailing near countries like Crete and Greece."

"Why's that?" Grandma said whilst pouring a dressing onto her salad.

"The Bereznik government is using an area of water near the coast of Crete to do some naval practice with one of their submarines." Jeff remembered some of the trouble they'd had with the Bereznik government, even right from the start of their operation. 7 "Is it going to be safe travelling?"

"As long a we keep out of their targeting zone and stick near to Egypt and Libya, we'll be fine."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The heavy metal door to Scott and Gordon's room unlocked slowly with the clicking of the lock sliding back. It began to lumber open as Scott took his first step outside the room for hours since he had got food poisoning. He seemed slightly dazed but never the less looked ok.

Gordon came after him and wasn't looking fantastic either. He squinted his eyes as if blinded by the brightness of the corridor light. He was just as dazed as Scott, but looked slightly paler.

"What time is it?" Gordon rubbed his hand over his face.

Scott looked down at his wristwatch. At this point he had to focus really hard to make out the two hands. "It's just gone ten in the morning. But we could have crossed several time zones by now."

Gordon looked at the door next to theirs, "let's see if dad's in his room." He dragged his feet to the door and knocked sluggishly on it. After which he listened to hear whether Jeff was making his way to the door. Ten seconds passed and nothing. "Guess he's not in."

"If Dad's not in," started Scott, "then that must mean Grandma's also out of her room." He looked down he empty corridor. "Come on, let's head to the elevator." They began to walk, their centre of balance was slightly off. They reached the section left of the corridor, where they were about to go straight for the elevator when they noticed a man laying on the floor.

Both the brothers kneeled down by him. They rolled the guy over on his back and Scott put his to fingers against his pulse. "Well he's alive, just unconscious."

Gordon had noticed one of the many ship phones on the wall. "I'll ring the medical bay" he got up, a bit too fast that his eyesight started to go fuzzy. He regained his balance and waited for his eyesight to return to normal, before making his way for the phone. He dialled the three numbers for the medical bay and waited.

And waited.

And waited!

"That's odd. It just keeps ringing."

"What!"

"It just keeps ringing. No one is picking it up."

"Try the bridge."

Gordon hung up and dialled the number for the bridge. Again it just kept ringing. "It's just the same as the medical bay."

Scott glanced at the elevator. "Then we'll take him to the medical bay our selves. Come on, we'll take the elevator." Gordon came over and picked his legs up whilst Scott carried him by his shoulders. Once they reached the elevator doors Scott elbowed the button, and they could hear the humming of it coming to their level.

The doors swung easily open and to Scott and Gordon's amazement they were stunned to see a couple, still dressed since last night, on the floor in the lift. Gordon put the legs of the first man they'd found down and checked the pulses of the other two "What is going on. These two are just like the other guy."

Scott was deep in thought. "Do you think that this is happening all around the ship? It would explain why the medical bay and the bridge didn't pick up."

"Possibly." They were silent for a few moments. "Scott, could it be possible that Dad was in his room but unconscious like the rest."

Scott looked down the corridor and then bolted for his father's door followed by Gordon. Once he reached it, Scott began to bang furiously on the door. "Dad! Are you in there, dad? Dad!" Still after all that, there was no sign that either Jeff was in his room or unconscious.

"Let's climb on to his balcony from ours, that way we'll be able to look into his room." Gordon inserted his key card into his door and went straight to the balcony from the moment it opened. Once on the balcony the two brothers climbed one balcony to the other. They peered in the patio window and saw that their father was in the room. He was just asleep in his bed, which was odd because they knew if an emergency call came in at home then anything could wake him. They remembered that their father didn't always lock the balcony window, and so Scott tried it. Sure enough it just slid open. Scott went to his father, but stopped and turned to Gordon.

"Gordon, go to Grandma's balcony and see if she's in her room as well." Gordon hurried out the room and went from Jeff's balcony to Grandma's. Gordon peered into the window and could see his Grandma in her bed fast asleep in her bed. He banged on the door to wake her, but she did not even flinch. She remained perfectly still, apart from her breathing. He tried to open it, but unlike his dad, her door would not open.

He jumped back over to his father's balcony and saw Scott was testing Jeff's pulse whilst holding the phone in the room between his head and shoulder. He dropped his fathers arm allowing it to bounce on the bed, "Just like the rest, alive but unconscious! Plus no ones picking up any phones." He replaced the phone back in the holder. "What about Grandma?"

"I couldn't get into her room, but she seemed fine through the window."

"What's happened to everyone? It's like we've been attacked some how over night!"

"How come we haven't been affected? If there was an attack we would have heard it."

"Good point." They were silent for a moment; the only sound that could be heard was the boat moving. "Hey, if everyone is unconscious, who's steering the ship?"

I didn't think of that, Gordon thought to himself. He didn't like the thought that no one was at the controls of this cruise ship. "I think we'd better to go up to the bridge and find out."

Gordon and Scott made there way to the top of the ship before walking all the way to the other side of the ship to get to the bridge. They reached it and the sound of the motors churning and ship moving convinced them that someone had to be in there. They stepped through the door and found the First Mate on the floor unconscious, Scott dragged his body, propping his back up against the wall. He looked around, "No sign of the Captain."

"Scott, come over here." Gordon gestured him over. Scott looked down at the readouts. One that unnerved him was the flashing red light that was continuously beeping, Gordon was pressing more buttons getting more statistics to appear on the screen. "We're in trouble!

"What is it?"

"Well it appears that no one has been manning the bridge for twelve hours, and the cooling reactors need constant attention. It appears that because they haven't been keeping an eye on it, they're going to explode in a couple of hours."

"Can't we stop it?"

Gordon shook his head, "No, they've gone past critical. We could eject them, but to do that we need to turn off the engines. It's a safety feature."

"Well why don't we do that?"

"I would if I could, but I don't know how. I wouldn't know where to begin to eject the cooling reactors or stop the Luxus completely. What are we going to do?"

"I think that there is only one thing we can do. We call home."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

With Dad and Scott away, Virgil had been left in charge of Tracy Island, in case any trouble occurred. Of course nothing had, everything was relatively quiet, not even calls from Dad. However, they pretty much suspected that with Scott and Gordon being with him, they'd be trying to get their father to relax. It seemed odd for Virgil to be sitting behind his fathers desk, Scott only did it a few months back himself. In many ways he found it slightly boring, he wanted at least one rescue to happen so he could see what it was like to be in charge. However, with the lack of brothers on the island, it was possible that Virgil would have to go anyway, that would just leave Kyrano in charge and it wouldn't be the first time they've done that before.

He had his head down, reading a magazine, when suddenly the sound he had been waiting for, was transmitted across the lounge. He looked up at John's picture, and was a bit surprised to see that his portrait was not flashing. He panned his head across to the next one, and was amazed that it was Scott's portrait. He pressed the button to receive the call and the eagle desk piece lifted up revealing the speaker. "Hi Scott, how are doing?"

Scott's face popped up on the screen and suddenly Virgil could see that his face looked serious "Virgil we are in trouble."

"What's the matter Scott?"

"You'd better get everyone up here fast. We're goanna need all the help we can get."

Virgil pressed another button, that allowed everyone to hear him of the speakers. "Emergency call everyone, come to the lounge immediately." In a few minutes everyone was in the lounge, Alan, Brains and Tin-Tin. "What is it?"

"Well," Scott started. He began going through the entire list of things that had happened so far, like everyone being unconscious on the ship and the fact that no one was at the helm. "Worst of all the coolant reactors have been un-monitored for too long. Gordon says they're going to explode."

Brains had been working this out in his head. "That means you'll have to stop the ship completely so that the safety feature will allow us to eject them."

"Right. And we don't know how to do that."

"If Tin-Tin and I head over there now, we could probably eject them."

Virgil looked at Brains, "but how long is it going to take to reach them?"

"Scott what is your international fix reference?"

Scott looked down and examined the read outs on the control panel, "18 degrees east at 34S, JM."

"That would roughly take about one and a half hours to get there." Brains calculated.

"Leaving you only thirty minutes to eject the cooling reactors." Scott stepped in.

"It's not a lot of time", began Virgil, "but it's all we've got. I'll take you and Tin-Tin out in Thunderbirds 2 to the Luxus. Alan, you stay here and try to contact the nearest rescue team by land and get them to send help."

"Ok Virgil" Alan sat down in his fathers chair and started working on the radio.

"We'd better take Thunderbird 4 as well Virgil," Brains left the room with Tin-Tin. "If the liner is going to be stationary when those reactors are ejected, we want to put as much distance from them and us as possible."

Virgil stood against, the picture of the rocket painting and descended down to the hanger. Brains and Tin-Tin made there way to the passenger lift before going down and joining Virgil. Before they knew it they had all lifted off.

* * *

><p>The hour and thirty minutes were rough for Scott and Gordon. A lot of it was watching the pressure of the cooling reactors climb unaccountably, powerless to do anything. They had tried to use the time to wake some of the passengers to consciousness, but nothing worked. Whatever had happened to them was dangerously strong. Over the sound of the ships movement, the sound of Thunderbird 2's engines bolted through the walls of the cruise ship.<p>

Scott and Gordon ran outside to guide Virgil to hover above the bridge. When they got outside, they could see the green bird not to far away. Gordon and Scott began signalling to where they were on the Luxus.

Inside, Tin-Tin was peering out of the window of the cockpit looking down at the bridge. "There they are." Tin-Tin pointed to the specks below.

"Right firing retro's", Virgil pulled a button and smoke began billowing out as the bird eased gently into a hovering position. "You head for the ladder, and I'll winch you down."

"Ok Virgil." Brains and Tin-Tin headed down to the ladder, holding tight onto it. Brains rang out over the radio "Ok Virgil, start lowering us down."

Scott and Gordon watched as the ladder with Brains and Tin-Tin came down from the nose of Thunderbird 2. It finally reached the deck, and Brains and Tin-Tin steadied themselves onto the steady ground of the cruise ship.

Scott grabbed the ladder still looking at the two of them, "Gordon and I will join Virgil, and head out in Thunderbird 4 once you've ejected the cooling reactors from the Luxus." Once they grabbed on tight to the ladder, they were lifted aboard Thunderbird 2, while Brains and Tin-Tin went straight to the cabin.

Brains and Tin-Tin scanned the consol cautiously, looking at every button and switch, and every readout. Tin-Tin's eyes widened at the readings, "Brains look at this." Brains moved closer and saw exactly what Tin-Tin was so concerned about.

"We better inform Scott and Gordon." He turned on the Transmitter. "Cruise Liner Luxus to Thunderbird 2."

Virgil's voice rang out over the intercom, "What is it Brains?"

"We have a message for Gordon."

"He can hear you over the radio."

"The reactors seem to be reaching a critical stage now. Their own cooling generators have failed, and the only thing keeping them from exploding is the back up cooling generators on board the ship. And they won't be able to keep that up for long. The moment that we release them you have a maximum of thirty seconds."

Scott's grumbling voice was just audible of the intercom, "This holiday keeps getting better and better."

"Thanks Brains", Gordon replied, "I guess we spend fifteen seconds taking the reactors out there, and fifteen seconds escaping the after shock. Over and out."

The radio went silent again, and Brains and Tin-tin started calculating, to work out the right sequence of buttons through logical deduction. Brains already found the shut down sequence and activated it. The ship slowly quietened down until it was completely void of engine vibration, and it's on movement was it drifting on the calm ocean surface.

"If this button is the lock down feature," stated Tin-Tin. "Then this must be the safety lock." Tin-Tin pressed it and a clamping sound was made, "I think we're ready to eject the first one Brains."

""Thank you Tin-Tin", he turned on the radio again. "Thunderbird 4, we're ready to eject the first reactor. Are Gordon and Scott in position Virgil?"

"Almost Brains there coming underneath you right now."

Sure enough Scott and Gordon were in Thunderbird 4 under the sea, crawling toward the Luxus' belly. Gordon was looking to see where the hatch was where the Luxus would be dropping its cooling reactor. "There she is." Within the expanse, the hatch was already opened, revealing a dark black hole with the first reactor half way out. He steadily went up to the hatch, and stopped right in front of where the reactor would drop. "Ready Scott?"

"Ready Gordon." He had his hand poised over the start button, to watch the time on his wristwatch.

"Ok you guys, release the first reactor."

"Ok Gordon." Brains voice sounded serious. "Releasing now!"

The reactor dropped into the sea, with Scott starting his stopwatch. Gordon drove Thunderbird 4, with the magnetic grabs out, it stuck to the reactor. With it attached he did a right turn and started speeding away from the liner.

"You've got ten seconds Gordon." Scott eyes keeping a constant watch over the second hand ticking away. By this time they had made a justifiable amount of distance away from Luxus. "Ok drop it Gordon." In one swift move, the reactor was released and Gordon made a complete u-turn picking up even more speed, to get away. "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1." The reactor exploded 200 metres away, close enough for Brains and Tin-Tin to notice through the window of the bridge. Gordon and Scott felt mild aftershocks that shook the insides of Thunderbird 4, but besides that they just felt dizzy.

"Gordon," Brains' voice came from the radio, "are you ok?"

"We're fine Brains. We barely felt anything."

"Good. Get in ready position, we're going to release the final one."

Thunderbird 4 was in place ready to catch the reactor when it dropped. From inside the liner, the sound of the mechanical grab started buzzing. The reactor slowly dropped half way out of the shaft, and then it stopped. Brains voice came through the radio, "Ready Gordon."

"Ready Brains." The releasing sound of the grab churned in the water, and the reactor plunged into the sea. Gordon darted Thunderbird 4 forward, but just missed it, as it continued to plummet deeper into the abyss. Gordon cursed under his breath, which didn't go unnoticed from Scott.

"What is it?" Scott looked up for the first time in ages from his watch.

"I missed the reactor."

"Well hurry up, you got twenty five seconds to grab it and take it far enough away." Gordon dived Thunderbird 4 down after the sinking reactor, knowing that time was running out. Scott looked back down at the watch, "twenty seconds!"

Finally Gordon clunked the magnetic grabs of Thunderbird 4 onto the of the reactor. He violently took the controls steering Thunderbird 4 away from the ship as quickly as possible. "We've got ten seconds Gordon, let it go and move." The reactor was released and once again began falling down. Gordon did a complete u-turn and gave it full throttle. A small bright flash filled the bottom of the sea, before a jet of spray erupted several meters away from the ship.

Brains and Tin-Tin watched as water splattered onto the window and deck of the liner. He picked up his communicator.

"Well done guys."

"Thanks Brains" Gordon, his voice rang with a sense of panic. "Do you guys need any assistance?"

"Apart from a medic rescue team, to fly out and check the passengers, we're going to try and weigh anchor. However, it's automatic and with the ship powered down, we're going to have to find a manual way of releasing them."

Scott's voice came over the radio. "Can't you turn the main systems back on?"

Tin-Tin was quick to reply. "We wouldn't dare. Without the cooling reactors the ship could have serious problems, and we'd need a whole new rescue attempt made."

"Seems reasonable. Virgil's just contacting the coast now, to ask for rescue ships to come and help."

Thunderbird 2 had been hovering above the Luxus and Thunderbird 4 for a while now. All he could do was watch. With both the reactors destroyed it was safe for him to call for medical assistant for the passengers on board.

"This is International Rescue to CMAR, do you read me, over."

The voice that replied had a Greek accent. "This is Chief Clopas Pardo of the Crete Medical Air Rescue, how can we be of help?"

Virgil began outlining the situation to Pardo. "There's a cruise liner about 31 miles off your coast, with all passengers requiring serious medical attention."

"Could you please give a pacific location for the cruise liner?"

"18 degrees east at 32S, JM."

"I'm afraid we can't help you."

Virgil had rarely ever heard someone deny help to International Rescue when they had asked for it. "Why, what's the problem?"

"The problem is that area of sea expanse is being used by the Bereznik Government for target practise. The world government has ordered all countries to keep out of the area. You know how unpredictable they can be."

"Yes, I do," Virgil remembered back to the last encounter he had with the Berezniks involving the trapped spy from the World Security Council.8 "Well you better give me the position of where they're practicing in the sea for target practise. We don't want the Luxus drifting into the Bereznik water."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The U.B.M (United Bereznik Military) Niepolatel submarine, scurried close to the bottom of the sea bed. For twelve hours they'd been here shooting floating objects that had been put out for them.

Inside Commander Joug controlled the entire operation from his chair, with his crew doing all the work. He sub-lieutenant gave the main orders to the rest of the ship, "Approaching target now sir."

"How far are we?"

"800 metres sir."

"Get torpedo bays ready to launch, firing will commence in sixty seconds."

"Very good sir." The Lieutenant switched on his communications to talk with the torpedo bay "Torpedo room, commence preparation for firing."

"Roger control."

Joug was anxious to see if his Lieutenant knew what they we're firing upon. "Well Lieutenant, have you worked it out yet?"

"Judging by its size we're firing on a medium sized boat."

"Well done Lieutenant, you're correct."

The torpedo bay got back to them. "Both missiles in place and ready for launch."

"Thank you torpedo bay," The Lieutenant looked at the countdown monitor on his control board. "Ten seconds to firing. Ten, nine, eight seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. FIRE!"

The torpedoes went screaming out of the sub, heading straight for the ship, churning the water above as they hastily approached. The slightest contact, the clunking of metal to metal, caused the torpedoes to explode into a destructive fireball. The ship looked liked it jumped out of the water for a second, before coming apart in pieces. It was now nothing more that wreckage in the water.

"Good work everyone." Joug had got out of his chair and placed his hands together. "That was the last disused oil tanker we had to destroy. Now do an about-turn and…" Before he could continue the radar operator cut in.

"Sir, I am picking up something quite large on the radar."

"Impossible." Joug had reopened his assignment brief and started looking for what it could be. "Where is it?"

"It's heading on a vector of 0-8.35"

The Lieutenant was now hovering behind the radar operator looking at the screen. "It appears to be two objects."

"Another oil tanker?" Enquired Joug,

"No, one of them is big, but not as big as an oil tanker, and the other is no bigger than a scout ship."

Joug was thinking about the course of action he should take on this matter. "Well, it is certainly not unheard of for the Bereznik Millitary Generals to add in surprise targets. I'm pretty sure that this is one of them. Helmsman, head on a course of 0-8.35 magnetic and Lieutenant."

"Yes sir."

"Get the torpedo bay ready for firing again. Let us blast this target out of the waters, just like the rest."

Virgil had informed Scott, Gordon, Brains and Tin-Tin about the Bereznik's navy target practice, and began discussing it, whilst also collecting the pod.

"I've tried reaching the vessel," started Virgil. "But they don't seem to respond to my calls. So I've contacted Alan, and he's going to try and contact the Berenzik Dictator."

"Well that's a start." Gordon sounded silently relieved at the idea. "Can't we try towing it out with Thunderbird 4."

"I'm afraid not." Brains was quick to reply, "Thunderbird 4 is too small to tow a whole cruise liner out with it."

"What about Thunderbird 2?" Scott was anxious to get moving. "Surely Thunderbird Two could be big enough to work."

"It's certainly worth a try."

"Let's just hope Alan can work something out with the Bereznik General," prayed Virgil as he had reattached himself with pod 4.

"He should be able to," assured Scott, "we made quite a good friendship with him, when saving his daughter."

* * *

><p>Alan was now at his father's desk using the radio set behind to contact the Bereznik country. "This is International Rescue calling General Berenora, come in Berenora."<p>

Berenora's voice finally came through. "This is General Berenora, what can I do for you International Rescue?"

"We need help and fast."

"I owe my life to you and that of my daughters to you. I will help anyway we can."

"A cruise Liner, which currently has no motor functions, has drifted into your targeting area off the coast of Crete. We need you to contact them and tell to stand down whilst we get a rescue party here to help. We've been trying to communicate with the sub, but they won't answer our calls."

"I'd sincerely like to help you people but…" he pause for a second. "…but the submarine is on radio silence. It won't give or receive any communications, that's why you've been unable to contact them."

"So you mean there's nothing you can do?" Alan couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"International Rescue, I am sorry. But I give you full authorisation to stop the Niepolatel anyway you can with out harming the crew."

"Thank you very General Berenora," the call ended. "What on earth are we going to do?"

* * *

><p>"What are we going to do?" Virgil instinctively said, after Alan had already replayed the conversation back to the rest of them, and Virgil felt helpless with the fact he was the only one out of the water.<p>

Inside Thunderbird 4, the radar had started blaring a sound, signifying the Niepolatel was on its way. Only 300 metres away, it sleeked across the water, poised ready for firing. "I'll try to hold it off for the moment while you guys think of a plan how to stop it." Gordon turned Thunderbird 4 and started heading closer to the Niepolatel.

On board the Niepolatel, the Lieutenant was setting up for their next firing. "Torpedo bay fully load sir."

"Good" Captain Joug began deciding which one of the targets to fire upon first. "Aim for the big ship first, we'll destroy the smaller one after."

"Very good sir." The Lieutenant began targeting the Luxus. "In position now sir."

"Fire one!"

The missile went screeching out of the submarine and straight to the Luxus.

It didn't go unnoticed on Thunderbird 4's radar. "Gordon missile launched."

"Right, firing counter missile." Gordon pulled a lever and before they knew it, they had engaged an official Bereznik Navy Submarine. The counter missile headed straight for the Bereznik one, before colliding and erupted in a huge explosion." The vibration was felt on Thunderbird 4

The same was also felt on the Niepolatel. "What on earth was that?" Joug leapt out of his seat.

"It appears the small craft, is not unmanned. It just fired a torpedo to destroy ours!"

"So we are at war. Tell the torpedo bay to get missile tubes one, two and three fully loaded and ready for launch in under one minute."

"Virgil" started Tin-Tin over the radio, "I have an idea! This is what you need to do." After explaining her plan Virgil piloted Thunderbird 2 right above the Niepolatel.

"Realising magnetic grabs." Virgil pulled back a leaver and the grabs appeared from the belly of pod 4. Slowly he took Thunderbird 2 further down, to the point where almost the magnetic grab was completely submerged and the bottom of the Thunderbird was touching the water.

Inside the Niepolatel, this had not gone unnoticed by the radar operator. "Sirs, there's a large craft directly above us."

"What?" Joug was getting more frustrated, at the situation. Suddenly the hull of the sub was hit by a huge clapping sound. It shook the inside and anyone on their feet, were knocked off balance. Joug dug his nails into his chair holding on tightly, while the Lieutenant held desperately onto one of the handles of the periscope. "What the hell was that?"

Inside Thunderbird 2, Virgil knew he was ready to begin. He lifted Thunderbird 2 up, and the Niepolatel was hauled clean out by the grabs with the water still running down it.

Inside, Joug was becoming infuriated without knowing what was going on.

"Lieutenant," Joug shouted and the Lieutenant stood to attention fast. "Find out what's going on." The Lieutenant went up to the periscope and looked through the viewfinder. His chin dropped and slowly took his eyes away to look back at the captain. Unable to speak, he climbed the long metal ladder to the hatch and began to turn it open. "What the hell are you doing?" Joug had thought he had gone mad. The Lieutenant swung it open and he poked his head up. Joug was surprised not to see gallons of water gushing it, only light poured in. The lieutenant could not believe his eyes, seeing the big green craft directly above him.

Virgil reached the beach coast of Kali Limenes in Crete and softly touched the sub down on the surface, before flying off. Inside the Niepolatel, Joug was already got onto the radio to General Berenora. "General, I have report that we are war with an unknown force, request permission to fire air-to-air missiles."

"Request denied Commander." The General sounded relieved that he had finally got hold of the Niepolatel. "The unknown force is International Rescue, you've been trying to destroy a ship they were trying to save."

* * *

><p>With the Bereznik sub out of action, the CMAR finally came in to air lift the passengers off the boat. To avoid suspicion, Virgil, Brains and Tin-Tin hastily left so no connection would be made to Scott and Gordon that they we're part of International Rescue. The two brothers watched as their father and grandma were taken on to one of the helijets and flown away. Amazingly the only person to have recovered on the boat at the time was first mate Richard Peters. Scott, Gordon and Clopas Pardo were questioning him, trying to work out what caused the incident.<p>

"So you saw nothing that would indicate an attack?" Scott eager to disprove the idea.

"No, I'm telling you I felt drowsy one moment and then I just remember collapsing." Richard still felt dazed from regaining conscious.

"And you two," Clopas turned to the Tracy's, "had no symptoms of what Peters has described?" Gordon and Scott both shook their heads.

Peter's groaned slightly suffering with a small headache, "You don't have anything to eat do you, I'm staving."

Suddenly Clopas' mind clicked into position, "wait a minute, you two boys were sick so you didn't have anything to eat on the ship right." They both shook their heads in agreement. "And you and Captain Peters had your dinner early."

"That's right."

"So it has to be the food. That explains why you are the only ones to recover."

"Well the chef had ordered a whole crate of Calamarna, which I believe he put on the food."

"I think we might have our answer."

* * *

><p>After two days, Jeff and Grandma, along with Scott and Gordon, had finally got back home. The day they had been moved to the hospital, the pair had recovered with no noticeable side effects. Enquiries had continued since they left, and finally a break through had been made that made world news. The family was sitting around in the Tracy lounge watching the NTBS News.<p>

"The cruise liner Luxus investigation had finally revealed the a new spice that recently went on the market, caused the majority of passengers to collapse, with the exception of two people. It was determined that a spice known as Calamarna which was put on every food item made by the ships chef, is extremely powerful and can cause deep sleep amongst people."

Jeff pressed the off switch and the picture of Ned Cook disappeared. "Well I'm proud of you all. You managed to pull off another rescue with out my intervention. One day I hope to have a vacation, a proper one."


End file.
